Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers when they battle on Saturday for a spot in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title match.
Tsitsipas leads the head-to-head series 5-3, but–like plenty of other matchups involving Sinner–this rivalry appears to be turning in the Italian’s favor. Once 1-5, Sinner won their last two meetings in 2023 (6-4, 6-3 in Rotterdam and 6-4, 6-4 at the Nitto ATP Finals).
A move from indoor hard courts to clay might give Tsitsipas somewhat of an advantage. The world No. 12 is a former French Open runner-up (2021) and he is already a two-time champion in Monte-Carlo (2021, 2022). Tsitsipas is back in the semifinals following victories this week over Laslo Djere, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Alexander Zverev, and Karen Khachanov.
As good as Zverev and Khachanov are, Sinner still represents a steep step up in competition. The world No. 2 is an amazing 25-1 so far in 2024 and 38-2 in his last 40 matches dating back to what was a dominant conclusion to 2023. Sinner opened in Monte-Carlo with straight-set defeats of Sebastian Korda and Jan-Lennard Struff before avenging last year’s loss at this event to Holger Rune with a 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 win on Friday afternoon.
With Sinner on fire, even on clay he should have the edge. Tsitsipas likes having time to set up for his groundstrokes–especially on the backhand side–but Sinner has the firepower to take the time away even in relatively slow conditions.
Pick: Sinner in 2
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